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Any ways to block the EM waves from my solid state Tesla coil? Answered

Hi guys,

I'm working on a small solid state Tesla coil (Slayer exciter) and every time I test it, the internet router stops working and peoples don't really appreciate it when it happens. The router is about 25-40 feet away but my brother's computer is in the same room about 10 feet away but is connected with an Ethernet cable that might act as an antenna?

I know that all the touch lamps in the house goes crazy so I really need to find a way to stop the EM waves to interfere with the electronics in the house.

I thought about putting the coil in a earth grounded metal cage but have no idea if it would work and if there is any other ways to do it.

Discussions

An "earth grounded metal cage" is a Faraday cage. As Downunder35m wrote, that's what you need to suppress interference. Choose a fairly fine mesh, like that used for window screens, and make sure that you have a continuous metal joint along all seams. The cage needs to completely surround your coil, including below it, and needs to be fully earth-grounded.

If you're planning to build something larger, you might consider constructing a Faraday cage room! Lining the walls, ceiling, and floor of a small shed (that includes the door, where you'll need a metal gasket to ensure closure) can give you a workspace where (a) you won't generate interference outside, and (b) you can do sensitive EM measurements without environmental interference.

I did not find an Instructable for building a "Faraday room," but there are several sites via Google which can help. Good luck!

EM interference is THE reason why already at Tesla's times the US cancelled all testing of bigger colis meant to transfer electricity wirelessly.

If you want no EM inerference don't use a tesla coil!

In case you insist on using it consider a fine wire mesh as a faraday cage but it has to be a fully closed box or be connected to a solid metal base plate - and grounded.

Standard tesla coils produce a bit less interference than the "electronic" ones but with the sizes in your pic you can be happy that no neighbour complains - after all most countries have quite strict regulations for EM problems...